Iuzzolinos collide in unique father-son college basketball matchup

Mike Iuzzolino remembers using the floor of coach D.P. Harris’ office as a pretend highway.

“When I was 8, I used to play with my toy trucks under his desk,” the Saint Vincent junior guard said. “I grew up here.”

Iuzzolino spent four years as a curious tag-a-long with a watchful eye and budding jump shot when his father, former NBA guard Mike Iuzzolino, was an assistant coach with the Bearcats from 2008-12.

Sprint ahead 11 years, and the Iuzzolinos are a tie that binds a unique college basketball game Sunday.

The younger Iuzzolino will get to play against his father when Saint Vincent (9-0) visits Robert Morris (2-8) for a Division III-Division I matchup at UPMC Events Center. Tip is at 2 p.m.

Mike Iuzzolino is an eighth-year assistant with the Colonials.

“When they asked me if I wanted to play Robert Morris, I said no,” the Iuzzolino son said. “It’s going to be different going against my dad, for sure. It’s going to be like a full-circle moment.”

A combo guard, Iuzzolino transferred to Saint Vincent from Division I Bryant. He has started all nine games and is averaging 11.4 points and 3.4 rebounds and is second on the team in 3-pointers (22) and assists (27).

“I’m sure we’ll talk about it more as it gets closer,” the son said.

The elder Iuzzolino, an Altoona native, was the 35th player selected (second round) in the 1991 NBA Draft out of St. Francis (Pa.) before playing in the CBA and overseas. The associate head coach to Andy Toole quietly has been anticipating the matchup with the Bearcats for reasons that are obviously sentimental.

“Both Mike and I are very competitive people,” the father said. “I want to win, and he wants to win. This is a unique opportunity because you don’t see a lot of D-1s playing D-3s anymore. Saint Vincent has a really good team, and these kind of games will help with their development. I respect all the things D.P. does with that program.”

Saint Vincent is off to its best start since 2008. It has been standing-room-only at home games as fans show up to watch the fast-paced Bearcats, who average nearly 90 points.

Robert Morris is wary of SVC, especially because the Colonials trailed the Bearcats by 17 a few years ago when the teams played at Carey Center. RMU rallied to win 78-61 before 950 fans in Latrobe.

“We try to play another local team to get fans to come out,” Coach Iuzzolino said. “We played Point Park and Pitt-Greensburg (in the past). I do the schedule.”

The younger Iuzzolino played at three high schools, starting with North Allegheny, then Canterbury (Conn.) before he returned to the area and played at First Love.

“As a father, I am proud of what he has accomplished,” Iuzzolino said. “He spent a lot of hours shooting on that floor (at RMU). When he was little, he was more into football and lacrosse. He didn’t get into basketball until the fifth grade when we moved to New Mexico. He has created his own path.”

And that path leads to Moon for a special day for a father and son.